Electrical switch



Aug. 31, 1965 G- D. BOGEL ELECTRICAL SWITCH 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct.28, 1963 INVENTOR GRAHAM D. BOGEL BYE I! ATTORN 5 Aug. 31, 1965 G. D.BOGEL ELECTRICAL SWITCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 28, 1963 Rm 5 E w m2 N 9 DJ W mm A Q 3 M 9 M GVI B W. m & 2 r 2? Q 0 AIY 1.965 G. D. BOGEL3,204,219

ELECTRICAL SWITCH Filed 001;. 28, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FICA.

x Q C 51 69 73 INVENTOR GRAHAM D, BOGEL ATTORNE United States Patent3,204,219 ELECTRICAL SWITCH Graham I). Bogel, 240 Rosemont, WebsterGroves, Mo. Filed Oct. 28, 1963, Ser. No. 319,138 16 Claims. (Cl.340--37) The invention relates to electric switches and consistsparticularly in a switch adapted to receive several continuouslyvariable inputs and provide a continuously variable output which is amathematical function of the inputs.

The art of control has advanced substantially in recent years. It ispresently the practice to provide continuously varying inputs to manydevices. Present practice requires rather extensive circuitry ormechanical conversion means to provide both high current capacity andvariable outputs at the same time. Such devices produce objectionablemechanical and electrical noise and are subject to considerable wear.Because of their complexity they are frequently difficult to understandand service.

Accordingly it is a main object of the invention to provide a switchingsystem that will respond to several variable inputs (either digital oranalog), and provide a variable output which is mathematical function ofthe switching geometry.

A further object is to provide a switching system capable of operationwith a minimum of noise and wear.

It is an additional object to provide a functionally sophisticatedcontrol device of such structural simplicity that it may be easilyunderstood and serviced.

The foregoing and additional more detailed objects and advantages areattained by the structures described hereinafter and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a transverse vertical sectional view of a switch embodying theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the switch illustrated in FIG. 1, taken alongline 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view along line 33 of FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken along line 44 ofFIG. 5, illustrating a modified form of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a view of the switching element shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a schematic circuit diagram showing the connection of theswitch illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 to highway trafiic signals.

FIG. 7 is a transverse vertical sectional view of a third form of theswitch embodying the invention.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the switch is arranged toprovide percentage timing of a high mass heat source S. The contactmeans of the switch is a liquid ball 3 preferably of mercury or mercuryalloys, although it may be of some other conducting liquid withsufiicient relative surface tension to hold itself together in contactwiththe switching elements andnot separate into smaller balls.

The switch comprises a shallow pan 1 of metal, the inner surface ofwhich is the surface of revolution of a mathematical curve selected togive a useful displacement of the ball 3 proportional to the angulardisplacement of the pan.

Pan 1 is universally tiltably mounted on a needle type pivot 5 and isstabilized thereon by bellows 7, pivot 5 being selectively verticallymovable for the purpose of introducing a variable input to the switch.The pan is nonrotatable in the horizontal plane.

The mercury receiving bottom of pan 1 is sealed by an insulating plate 9in order to protect the mercury from dirt and foreign substances and topermit the cavity to 3,204,219 Patented Aug. 31, 1965 "ice be filledwith a suitable inert gas if desired. Within the cavity also, and spacedfrom the bottom of the pan, is a switching element 11 of multifoil shapein plan, although the specific shape is a matter of choice dependingupon the function of the switch, the spacing of switching element 11from the bottom of the pan being sufficient to permit contact therewithof the conducting liquid ball 3. Switching element 11 is supported frominsulating plate 9 by a plurality of posts 13 and a conducting post 15which protrudes upwardly through the insulating plate. Mass heat sourceS is connected to a suitable source of power by leads 17 and 19, lead 17being directly connected to the heat source and lead 19 being connectedto terminal 21 on switch pan 1. The other power input lead 21 of heatsource S is connected to terminal post 15 of switching element 11, sothat as long as ball 3 is in engagement with the inner surface of pan 1and a surface of switching element 11, current will pass to the heatsource, energizing the same. The ball can be moved, however, by tiltingpan 1 and may be made to rotate or follow any desired path by causingthe pan to wobble or precess. The latter type of movement is provided bya rotating arm 23 on the end of which is mounted a double flanged roller25 of insulating material such as nylon, the groove of the roller beingengageable with the upper rim 27 of pan 1. Arm 23 is pivotally mountedat 29 transversely of upright shaft 31 of motor 33 and extendstherebeyond and upwardly to a connection at 35 with bimetal thermostat37 on heat source S, the thermostat 37 being rotatably mounted on theheat source to permit it to rotate with arm 23 as the latter is rotatedby motor 33. With motor 33 in operation, and with arm 23 horizontallydisposed as shown in FIG. 1, as arm 23 rotates, no movement will beimparted to pan 1 and conducting liquid ball 3 will remain in theposition shown in FIG. 1. However, as the temperature of heat source Sincreases, the out-er end of bimetal thermostat 37 will move upwardly,causing a corresponding downward movement of the outer roller-mountingend of arm 23 and this will cause pan 1 to Wobble about its pivotalsupport 5, thereby causing mercury ball 3 to move outwardly to aposition such as that shown in FIG. 3 and to rotate along a circularpath such as that shown in broken lines in FIG. 3. As ball 3 followsthis path it will only be in intermittent contact with element 11throughout its travel and the mass heat source circuit will be made andbroken accordingly. Should the heat source continue to rise intemperature, thermostat 37 acting through arm 23 would tilt pan 1 untilball 3 was further from the center than the outer ends of the foils ofelement 11, thereby completely cutting off the supply of current to theheat source until the heat source and thermostat cooled down to permit areduction in the tilt of arm 23 sufficient to bring the path of ball 3into engagement with switching element 11.

Although, for some purposes, motor 33 might be operated at constantspeed and pivot member 5 maintained at constant height so that the onlyvariable input would be the movement of arm 23 caused by the effect oftemperature changes on bimetal thermostat 37, it would be possible tocontinually vary the motor speed and also to vary the height of pivotmember 5, either manually or by mechanical means so that the movement ofthe ball and the making andbreaking of the circuit would be a functionnot only of the upward and downward movement of arm 23, but also of theupward and downward movement of pivot member 5 and variations in motorspeed.

Operation of this form of the device is as follows: With heat source Scold, the pan would be in the position shown in FIG. 1 with the liquidball centered and engaging the central portion of the quatrefoil switchelement 11. As the heat source warms up, the outer end of thermostat 37moves upwardly, gradually causing downward movement of the outer end ofarm 23 and outward movement of ball 3 on its generally circular path.Initially the ball will be in constant contact with element 11 but asthe thermostat warms up and the outer end of arm 23 moves downwardlycausing greater tilting and wobbling of pan 1, the spacing of the ballfrom the center of the pan increases and in its path it is out ofcontact with switch element 11 throughout a greater part of its circuit,only making contact when it is beneath the leaves of the multifoilelement. During the periods when the ball is not in contact with themultifoil element, the circuit through the heat source is broken. If theheat source continues to heat up beyond a predetermined value, thethermostat, acting through arm 23, causes the pan to tilt so far thatthe path of the ball is entirely outwardly of switch element 11, therebycutting off power to the heating source until it cools down.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 4-6 is arranged tocontrol traflic lights between a main and a secondary road. In thisembodiment of the invention, arm 23 is operated by a trafiic counter Con the secondary road, and the switching element consists of a curvedplate 39 supported from insulating plate 9 and a peripheral ring 41surrounding and slightly spaced from element 39. Plate 39 is separatedinto a plurality of sections 43, 45, 47 and 49 insulated from each otherand each supported from insulating plate 9 by one or more posts 44, 46,48 and 50, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 6, a pair of traflic signals 51 for a main road and 53for a secondary road are shown. Each of the signal indication lights R,A and G is connected by a line 55 and branch lines 57, 59, 61 to asource of electric power, and the other power line 63 is connecteddirectly to terminal screw 21 on pan 1. Segment 43 of element 39 isconnected by line 65 to the red light on secondary road signal 53 andtherefrom by means of lin 67 to the green light on main road signal 51so that when the mercury ball is under segment 43, the secondary roadsignal will be red and the main road signal, green. Segments 45 and 49are connected by line 69 to the amber light on the secondary road andtherethrough by means of line 71 to the amber light on the primary roadsignal 51 so that when the mercury ball is in either of these segments,both amber lights will be illuminated.

Segment 47 is connected by means of line 73 to the green light onsecondary road signal 53 and is connected therethrough by means of line75 to the red light in main road signal 51 so that when the mercury ballunderlies segment 47 the green light on the secondary road signal 53will be exhibited and the red light will be exhibited on the main roadsignal 51. Peripheral ring 41 is connected by line 77 to the armature 79of a flasher relay 81, the other contact 83 of which is connected by aline 85 to the amber light of the secondary signal 53 so that when theball is in engagement with ring 41 there will be a flashing amberindication on both road signals. Normally, in the absence of trafiic onthe secondary road, arm 23 would be tilted by trafiic counter C so thatball 3 would be in engagement with ring 41, i.e., at its outermostposition, and motor 33, rotating at constant speed, would maintain ball3 in contact with ring 41 thereby making a circuit through flasher relay81 and causing amber lights to flash on both road signals 51 and 53.This rotation would terminate at point 87 due to the engagement of arm23 with fixed stop element 86 depending from the housing of motor 33. Assoon, however, as trafiic occurs on the secondary road, traflic counterC causes arm 23 to move upwardly at its outer end and correspondinglydownward at its short end, clearing the lower end of stop element 86,also reducing the tilting of pan 1 and causing inward movement of liquidball 3 into engagment with segment 43 of switch elment 39. Then, as willbe evident from circuit schematic diagram of FIG. 6, through lines 65and 67, the red light of secondary road signal 53 will be illuminatedand the green light of main road signal 51 will be energized. As arm 23rotates ball 3 will move into segment 45, and through lines 69 and 71will energize both of the amber signals, after which the ball will moveinto engagement with segment 47 thereby, through line 73, energizing thegreen light of secondary road signal 53 and, through line 75, the redlight of main road signal 51, after which the ball will pass intoengagement with segment 49 by means of which, through lines 69 and 71,it will energize both of the amber lights, thence back into engagementwith segment 43 with energization of the secondary road red light andmain road green light. As traflic increases on the secondary road, theouter end of arm 23 will be raised, thereby reducing the tilting of pan1 and moving the ball ever closer to the center of the pan, thusreducing the linear travel of the ball through the segments and speedingup the cycle of the signal. The segments of course can be of anysuitable size, segment 43, the green light segment for the main road andred light of the secondary road, being of maximum size, and the segments45 and 49, amber segments for both roads, being of equal size, andsegment 47, the green light segment for the secondary and red light forthe primary road, being substantially smaller than segment 43.

For providing an all-red indication when desired, the red lights of bothsignals 51 and 53 have lines 89 and 91 extending through insulator 9 andthrough a central aperture 93 in switch element plate 39. By manuallylowering pivot support element 5 until pan 1 is horizontal, as shown inFIG. 4, ball 3 may be brought into contact with leads 89 and 91 causingan all-red indication and permitting manual trafiic direction inemergencies.

Operation of the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 4-6 is asfollows:

In the absence of trailic on the secondary road, counter C maintains arm23 and pan 1 tilted, so that liquid ball 3 is in engagement with ring 41thereby, through flasher relay contact arm 79 and lines and 71,intermittently energizing the amber lights in main road signal 51 andsecondary road signal 53. Irrespective of where arm 23 was originallyrotationally positioned, it will be rotated by motor 33 until its shortend engages stop 86 so that roller 25 will engage the rim of pan 1 atpoint 87 and accordingly that, when traflic occurs on the secondaryroad, the liquid ball 3 will engage segment 43, causing a greenindication on the main road signal and a red indication on the secondaryroad signal. As the output plunger of the traific counter C movesupwardly, indicating traffic on the secondary road, the short end of arm23 is moved downwardly, clearing the lower end of stop 86 to permit thearm to rotate, and the long end correspondingly upwardly, therebycausing the liquid ball to move inwardly, out of engagement with ring 41and into engagement with segment 43, to cause, through lines 65 and 67,a green indication on main road signal 51 and a red indication onsecondary road signal 53. As the motor rotates arm 23, the ball passessuccessively from segment 43 to segments 45, 47 and 49, causingcorrespondingly successive illumination of both amber lights, the redlight of the primary road signal and the green light of the secondaryroad signal, both amber lights, and thence back into engagement withsegment 43 and illumination of the main road green light and thesecondary road red light. As trafiic increases on the secondary road,the counter plunger will move further downwardly, causing correspondingupward movement of the outer end of arm 23 and consequent reduction ofthe tilting of the pan, thus bringing the liquid ball closer to thecenter of the pan and reducing the linear distance of its travel percycle, and correspondingly speeding up the cycle. If an all-redindication on both signals is desired, thepan can be lowered, bymanually lowering support 5 until the pan is level; when this occursball 3 will be out of engagement with plate 39 and close the circuitincluding both red lights and lines 89 and 91. By

raising the pan to its normal height, normal automatic operation of thesignals can be restored.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 7, the swigghincludes a continuously variable radio frequency transformer, havinghelical primary and secondary coils 92 and 93 supported in verticallyspaced relation from each other andthe inner surface of pan 95 which ismade of insulating material and is supported only on bellows 96. Thisswitch is arranged to short out varying numbers 5f the secondary coilsand accordingly the pan is provided with a hemispherical sump 97 at itscenter filled with a quantity of mercury or other conducting liquid 99,so that when the pan is tilted, the liquid will be disposed in a longstream extending radially outwardly from the center of the pan. Thelength of the stream of liquid and the number of turns shorted out willdepend on the degree to which the pan is tilted, which, of course, willbe a function of the input variables introduced by tilting arm 23 and byraising or lowering the pan by the introduction into or removal of fluidfrom bellows 96.

Operation of this form of the invention is as follows: The primary coil92 is energized, and, if the pan is horizontal, all turns of thesecondary coil will function to provide the maximum output voltage. Ifthe input on arm 23 is varied, or if the height of the pan is varied bybellows 96, the pan will tilt, causing the fluid in sump 99 to streamradially outwardly therefrom, shorting out some turns of secondary coil93 and in effect reducing its number of turns and the output voltage.The number of turns shorted out will, of course, vary in accordance withthe tilting of the pan, which is a function of the inputs on arm 23 andbellows 96.

It will be understood that, although switches constructed in accordancewith my invention may 'be used for numerous purposes other than thosedisclosed herein, where several continuoiisly variable inputs and acontinuously variable output are required, and such switches may bemodified in various respects as will occur to those skilled in the art,the exclusive use of all modifications as come within the scope of theappended claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical switch comprising a circular pan, a support for saidpan permitting universal tilting movement thereof, an arm mounted on anaxis concentric with said pan for rotation relative thereto and engagingthe periphery of said pan, said arm being tiltable on an axis normal toits rotatable axis for imparting a wobbling movement in said pan as itrotates, a mass of conductive liquid in said pan movable in accordancewith wobbling movements thereof, and conductive surfaces in said panspaced above the inner surface thereof less than the normal free heightof said liquid mass, said surfaces being separated from each other,whereby said conductive surfaces are adapted to be contacted by saidliquid mass during movements thereof.

2. An electrical switch according to claim 1 in which said pan isnonrotatable.

3. An electrical switch according to claim 1, including a plate-likeelement spaced above the inner surface of said pan, said conductivesurfaces being portions of the lower surface of said element.

4. An electrical switch according to claim 3, in which portions of saidelement are cut away to provide discontinuities in its lower surface.

5. An electrical switch according to claim 4 in which said element is ofmultifoil shape.

6. An electrical switch according to claim 1 in which said pan isarranged for selective movement along its vertical axis.

7. An electrical switch according to claim 1, including means forrotating said arm at selected speeds.

8. The combination with a switch according to claim 1 of a source ofelectric power, an electrical heat source, the inner surface of said panand said conductive surfaces forming the controls of said switch, anelectrical conductor connecting said heat source with one of saidcontacts and the other of said contacts being connected to said powersource, and means responsive to changes in temperature of said heatsources and operatively connected to said arm for tilting the latter inaccordance with changes in temperature of said heat source.

9. The combination with a switch according to claim 1 of a source ofelectric power, a pair of trafiic signals each having stop, caution, andproceed indications, the inner surface of said pan and said conductivesurfaces forming the contacts of said switch, one of said contacts beingconnected to said power source, the other of said contacts comprisingsegments insulated from each other and connected respectively to thestop indication of one of said signals and the proceed indication of theother signal, to the caution indications of both signals, and to theproceed indication of said one signal and the stop indication of saidother signal, a traffic counter having its output connected to said armfor varying tilting of said arm and of said pan in accordance withtraffic conditions and thereby varying the displacement of said liquidmass from the center of the pan and thus varying the length of thesignal cycle.

10. The combination according to claim 9, including an additionalannular contact surrounding and insulated from said segments, and aconductor connecting said annular contact and said caution indicationand including an intermittently opened and closed switch whereby whensaid liquid mass is in engagement with said annular contact the cautionindications of both said signals will be intermittently energized.

11. The combination according to claim 9 in which said segments arespaced from the center of said pan, and including a pair of spacedcontacts connected to the top indications for energizing the same whensaid pan is horizontal and said liquid mass is centered therein and inengagement with both said contacts, and means for selectively varyingthe height of said pan on its support whereby to position said panhorizontally irrespective of the tilting of said arm.

12. The combination according to claim 10 in which one of said signalsgoverns a main road and the other signal govern a secondary road andsaid trafiic counter is arranged to measure trafiic on said secondaryroad and maintain said arm at its maximum tilted position, with saidliquid mass in engagement with said annular con tact, in the absence oftraflic on the secondary road, and

' to reduce the tilt of said arm as traflic on said secondary roadincreases to move said liquid ball inwardly of the pan from said annularcontact and into successive contact with said segments as said armrotates, the linear travel of said liquid mass through a complete cyclebeing reduced as the tilt of said arm is reduced and said ballapproaches the center of the pan.

13. The combination according to claim 12 in which the segmentsconnected respectively to said proceed indication of one said signal andsaid stop indication of said other signal and to said stop indication ofsaid one signal and said proceed indicaton of said other signal arespaced apart by the segments connected to the cution indications of bothsignals.

14. The combination according to claim 13, including means for stoppingrotation of said arm when said arm is at its maximum tilt position andoverlies the segment connected to the proceed indication of said mainroad signal and the stop indication of said secondary road signalwhereby, when trafiic commences on said secondary road and the tilt ofthe arm is thereby reduced and the liquid mass moves into contact withsaid segment, thereby causing a proceed indication on the main roadsignal, and a stop indication on the secondary road signal, said stopmeans being arranged to release said arm and permit its rotation uponthe commencement of trafiic on the secondary roads.

15. An electrical switch according to claim 1, including a helical coiluniformly spaced from the inner surface of the pan, said pan including asump at its center filled with said conductive liquid, whereby upontilting of said pan the liquid spills out of said pump in a radialstream contacting adjacent turns of said coil, the number of turnscontacted being proportional to the length of the stream and tilt of thepan.

16. An electrical switch according to claim 14, in Which there is asecond helical coil spaced upwardly from said first named helical coil,said coils forming the primary and secondary of a variable transformer.

No references cited.

NEIL C. READ, Primary Examiner.

1. AN ELECTRICAL SWITCH COMPRISING A CIRCULAR PAN, A SUPPORT FOR SAIDPAN PERMITTING UNIVERSAL TILTING MOVEMENT THEREOF, AN ARM MOUNTED ON ANAXIS CONCENTRIC WITH SAID PAN FOR ROTATION RELATIVE THERETO AND ENGAGINGTHE PERIPHERY OF SAID PAN, SAID ARM BEING TILTABLE ON AN AXIS NORMAL TOITS ROTATABLE AXIS FOR IMPARTING A WOBBLING MOVEMENT IN SAID PAN AS ITROTATES, A MASS OF CONDUCTIVE LIQUID IN SAID PAN MOVABLE IN ACCORDANCEWITH WOBBLING MOVEMENTS THEREOF, AND CONDUCTIVE SURFACES IN SAID PANSPACED ABOVE THE INNER SURFACE THEREOF LESS THAN THE NORMAL FREE HEIGHTOF SAID LIQUID MASS, SAID SURFACES BEING SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER,WHEREBY SAID CONDUCTIVE SURFACES ARE ADAPTED TO BE CONTACTED BY SAIDLIQUID MASS DURING MOVEMENTS THEREOF,
 9. THE COMBINATION WITH A SWITCHACCORDING TO CLAIM 1 OF A SOURCE OF ELECTRIC POWER, A PAIR OF TRAFFICSIGNALS EACH HAVING STOP, CAUTION, AND PROCEED INDICATIONS, THE INNERSURFACE OF SAID PAN AND SAID CONDUCTIVE SURFACES FORMING THE CONTACTS OFSAID SWITCH, ONE OF SAID CONTACTS BEING CONNECTED TO SAID POWER SOURCE,THE OTHER OF SAID CONTACTS COMPRISING SEGMENTS INSULATED FROM EACH OTHERAND CONNECTED RESPECTIVELY TO THE STOP INDICATION OF ONE OF SAID SIGNALSAND THE PROCEED INDICATION OF THE OTHER SIGNAL, TO THE CAUTIONINDICATINS OF BOTH SIGNALS, AND TO THE PROCEED INDICATIN OF SAID ONESIGNAL AND THE STOP INDICATION OF SAID OTHER SIGNAL, A TRAFFIC COUNTERHAVING ITS OUTPUT CONNECTED TO SAID ARM FOR VARYING TILTING OF SAID ARMAND OF SAID PAN IN ACCORDANCE WITH TRAFFIC CONDITIONS AND THEREBYVARYING THE DISPLACEMENT OF SAID LIQUID MASS FROM THE CENTER OF THE PANAND THUS VARYING THE LENGTH OF THE SIGNAL CYCLE.